On a Journey to Love Myself and (the food in) the World Around Me.

One of the first fall traditions Nathan and I began was making pumpkin bread. We would make a triple batch, bake it in small loafs, and pass it out to everyone.

Last year was the first year I didn’t feel comfortable making our original recipe (which contained 6 cups of dry sugar), and so I skirted around it – I made whole wheat pumpkin muffins a few times (we weren’t gluten free yet), and some other treats, but not as ‘all out’ as we normally do.

This year, I’ve been wanting pumpkin bread since sometime in September, so I knew I had to come up with an alternative. I tried 3 other, disastrous, attempts before this one, but I’m glad I stuck with it, because this one is totally worth it.

*Date Paste – place 20 dates in a bowl and cover with warm water for at least 20 minutes. Drain. Add to food processor with 1 tablespoon of water. Blend until jelly consistency. This should make right at 1/2 a cup.

Make a hole in the center of the dry ingredients and add the eggs (flax or real), coconut oil, honey (or maple syrup, or date paste), vanilla and apple cider vinegar. Mix thoroughly, but do not over mix.

Add the pumpkin and nuts (optional), folding the mixture together

Prepare either a loaf pan or muffin tins with grease of choice, and pour in the batter

Bake for 30 – 40 minutes for a loaf, or 18 – 22 minutes for muffins. When done a knife should come out cleanly when stuck in the middle

Let cool before cutting / eating. Once cool store in an air tight container.